Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) in medical applications has been gradually attracting interest due to its customizability, cost-effective production, and fast delivery. For the past decade, the majority of implants have been traditionally produced using casting, forging, machining, and powder metallurgy techniques. These traditional implants require manual bending before surgery using trial and error to custom fit the patient's bone contour. Any mismatch between the implant and the bone contours would result in implant failure and physiological stress and pain to the patient. The objective of this study is to present an integrated framework model to design, analyze, validate, and develop a new customized mandibular implant from the computed tomography scan, that can precisely fit patients' bone contours and can effectively withstand chewing load conditions. In this study, a customized implant is designed based on a patient's Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine files. A three dimensional finite element model of the designed implant is generated to simulate the mechanical behavior based on the chewing load conditions. Finally, the designed implant is fabricated using electron beam melting and AM technology from Ti6Al4 V ELI [Titanium-6 Aluminium-4 Vanadium (Wt%) extra low interstitials] powder. The finite element analysis results revealed that the designed reconstruction plate model can withstand the maximum stresses (168.79 MPa), which is significantly less than the determined failure limit of the implant material. Moreover, the location of the maximum strain on the reconstruction plate is away from the screw holes, thus providing better stability and fewer chances of the implant screw loosening. The study reveals that the newly designed reconstruction plate can be recommended in the repair of mandibular bone defects, which can effectively improve stability and can guarantee a perfect fit.